Pages

Thursday, October 6, 2016

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab 398 pages

Kell is one of the last Travelers - magicians with a rare, coveted
ability to travel between parallel universes - as such, he can choose
where he lands. There's Grey London, dirty and boring, without any
magic, ruled by a mad King George. Then there's Red London, where life
and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a
flourishing empire. White London, ruled by whoever has murdered their
way to the throne - a place where people fight to control magic, and the
magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. And once upon a
time, there was Black London...but no one speaks of that
now.Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and
adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences
between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler,
servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a
world they'll never see - a dangerous hobby, and one that has set him up
for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of
Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations, first robs him, then
saves him from a dangerous enemy, and then forces him to spirit her to
another world for a proper adventure.

But perilous magic is
afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds,
Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive - and that is proving
trickier than they hoped.